While I consider myself to be a member of the Swiftie Nation, in truth I’m a bit of an imposter or at best someone using a visitor’s pass to get into the events. Which is to say I saw and loved the 2020 documentary “Miss Americana,” and then saw and really loved the movie “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.” As I told everyone then, I’ve seen the Rolling Stones live, Bruce Springsteen live, and neither of them came anywhere close to the spectacle and majesty of Taylor’s renowned concert tour. I sat at the Alameda Theatre in awe of the performance on the screen, and the rabid, ridiculous, loving response of the audience. But I don’t know her vast catalog of songs, and heck, I don’t even own a beaded bracelet (though I do want one).
Last Friday night I returned to the historic auditorium with a fairly high level of expectation, given what I’d seen two years ago. But this movie, “Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl,” was an altogether different thing. Missing was the over-the-top production of every part of the Eras Tour movie. Also mostly missing was the frenzied crowd dressed up in their favorite era outfits, singing along with song after song after song. Rather, this movie was part documentary, showing behind the scenes footage of the making of the first video to drop, “The Fate of Ophelia,” as well as showing us that video, twice in fact.
In between, Ms. Swift (her title for now at least) introduced the other songs which we then had a chance to hear and read the lyrics for, with a drastically reduced video element. Each one was Taylor in a fetching outfit displayed with a kaleidoscope effect, something called a “visualizer.” Honestly, they were not visually engaging, but they were powerful in a way that pleased this old fashioned former English teacher. Instead of a lot of razzmatazz, the focus was on the words, in large font, reminding us how it all begins—Taylor sitting somewhere and taking the music in her head and writing down the words. Just like the songwriter she’s always been. And while the audience did not know these songs well enough to sing along, in a few days, I’m certain, thousands and maybe millions of her fans will know the words to where they loudly belt them out with their eyes closed and hearts pounding.
Legitimate fan and long time lover of all things Taylor, Darcy Ward had this to say about the experience: “The Life of a Showgirl movie gave context to Taylor’s new era while simultaneously celebrating girlhood, growing up, feathers and community. It was fun to get a behind the scenes look at how Taylor approaches her craft.”
I’ll echo those thoughtful words by commenting on a small moment in the film. In the title song from the album, featuring Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor sings, “Now I make my money being pretty and witty.” Proof of that is how she uses the rhymes “Kitty,” “city,” and “legitly” early in the song, where she accurately places herself in the canon of celebrities overheated by the light of fame. Her song about Elizabeth Taylor reinforces that notion.
But I’ll add that “gritty” also works to describe Taylor Swift and my admiration of her talent and career. To see her direct the “Ophelia” video, collaborating with her fellow artists, suggesting ideas, asking for lighting changes, asking for one more take to get it right, and being cheered by the dancers and crew, is to see someone who deeply cares about the details of what she’s doing. There is no “whatever” about her. And then to pull back and consider how she fought for the ownership of her songs, how she stood up to Apple Music, how she dares to engage herself politically, only furthers my respect for her.
I will add one final small but very important thing. Having just directed Hamlet for the Foodbank Players, and having taught the play for years, I was very much interested in how she was going to explore and portray the tragic heroine of Shakespeare’s greatest play. The opening moment of the video shows Taylor recreating the Millais painting of Ophelia floating in the water where she drowned. But in the video, Ophelia rises, struts away, and transforms into a showgirl. The final scene shows that woman, dressed in her finest beaded sizzle, back in the water—a bathtub—reminding us of where she came from and the hazards she endures.
In commenting on that video, that scene, and her love for Shakespeare, Taylor Swift does something remarkable. Instead of describing accurately the demise of Ophelia by using the word “suicide” or the phrase “took her own life” or even the slang term “unalive,” she says Ophelia died. And I thought to myself, good for you, so good for you. The grown ups in the audience who know the play know what really happened, and the young people will, when they (hopefully) read the play in high school, come to that understanding too. But for now, the adorable gaggle of little girls dressed in shiny dresses flinging glittered boas don’t need to know that. Forgive me, but that was a mom moment for Taylor Swift, looking out for the up-and-coming showgirls who deservedly adore her.
Gene Kahane is the founder of the Foodbank Players, a lifelong teacher, and former Poet Laureate for the City of Alameda. Reach him at [email protected]. His writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Gene-Kahane.
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